Diverse edelen, plaat 20 Possibly 1530 - 1620

Nicolaas Hogenberg made this print, "Diverse edelen, plaat 20," sometime in the 16th century. It shows a group of noblemen on horseback. This image offers insights into the social hierarchy of its time. The act of portraying nobles on horseback reinforces their status and authority. Horses were expensive to keep and were therefore a preserve of the upper classes. In many European countries, one needed to be of noble birth to own one. The work would have spoken to the relationship between power, class, and representation in the context of 16th-century European society. The Latin text 'Et Potentes Caesarei' suggests the figures are dignitaries of the Holy Roman Empire. By consulting period documents, such as books of heraldry or sumptuary laws, we can better understand the contemporary significance of this image. The meaning of art is always contingent on its historical context, and the role of the historian is to unpack these layers of meaning.